JATM Power of the Force
Reference Book: Star Wars Saga Edition Jedi Academy Training Manual Jedi heroes from all eras are as varied in their skills and abilities as any other kind of hero. Some Jedi are warriors, born to use The Force on the battlefield to banish The Dark Side. Others are born to be introspective seekers of knowledge, using meditation to peer into the secrets of the universe in search of truth. Regardless of what kind of Jedi your hero might be, this chapter presents many new Talents, Feats, and Force Powers to help bring your Jedi's unique skills to the forefront. The mechanics presented in this chapter cover a variety of Force powers and methods, some meant for all and others meant only for those who embrace The Dark Side. This chapter also takes a look at many character archetypes within the ranks of The Jedi and The Sith. Among the Jedi Knights, many Jedi are classified by their specialities; there are Jedi Healers, Jedi Investigators, Jedi Battlemasters, Jedi Instructors, and so forth. These Jedi might be described by their archetype, but these archetypes do not necessarily define them. The nature of Talent Trees, the Jedi Heroic Class, and the Jedi Knight Prestige Class gives each hero's player the choice of just how closely to follow the archetype. You can choose to make your Jedi a master of one aspect of Jedi Knighthood, embodying the archetype you have chosen in every Talent choice. Alternatively, you can dabble in two, three, or even more Talent Trees, creating a Jedi who chooses to be more cosmopolitan about their areas of study. Additionally, many of the mechanics in this chapter can be used to flesh out Force Adepts of other Force Traditions, including those presented in Affiliated Programs. Some of the Force Powers in this chapter are specifically the domain of those Force Traditions, such as The Aing-Tii Monks and their Fold Space Force Power, or the Intercept Force Power favored by The Zeison Sha warriors. The Talents for the Force Adept Prestige Class also create their own sub-archetypes, many of which may not be appropriate to certain Force Traditions. Players on non-Jedi Force-users should consult with their Gamemasters to determine exactly which Force Powers and Talents are appropriate for creating a character from a particular Force Tradition. Skills This section introduces new applications of the Use the Force Skill. Use the Force Breath Control (Trained Only) You can use The Force to help you hold your breath for an extended period of time. A successful DC 15 Use the Force check allows you to hold your breath for a number of rounds equal to twice your Constitution score before having to succeed Endurance checks to continue to hold your breath. Additional Move Light Object (Trained Only) You can use this application of the skill to catch and move a Thrown weapon, such as Grenades, that lands within your reach. The object can weigh no more than 5 kg. You must Ready an Action to catch the object on your turn, before the object is thrown. Moving the object requires a Use the Force check, with a DC equal to the attack roll of the thrown weapon. If you succeed on this check, you catch the object with The Force and can immediately move the object up to 6 squares away from you; otherwise, resolve the attack as normal. If the object you caught is an Explosive, such as a Grenade, it explodes at the end of its movement. You can use the object caught as a projectile weapon, as normal (See Move Light Object, above). Place Other in Force Trance (Trained Only) As a Full-Round Action, you can place an adjacent willing ally that you touch into a Force Trance with a DC 15 Use the Force check. In this state, the target ally rests as though in a deep coma and is considered Helpless. Each hour the target remains in the Force Trance, the target regains a number of Hit Points equal to its Character Level. You can bring an adjacent ally you touch out of a Force Trance as a Swift Action, but the target cannot otherwise come out of the Force Trance on his or her own will. If the target remains in the Force Trance for 4 consecutive hours, the target emerges from the Force Trance fully rested (As though the target had rested for 8 hours). While the target ally is in a Force Trance, it can go ten times as long as normal without air, food, or water (See the Endurance Skill). Unwilling targets cannot be placed in a Force Trance. Force Regimens Main Article: Force Regimens Force Regimens are training techniques used by The Jedi, The Sith, and other Force Traditions to hone their skills and enhance their sensitivity to The Force. Even Jedi Masters, who have spent years working to achieve a level of Force mastery that others cannot, still meditate and train on a regular basis. Force Regimens are ritualistic exercises that Force-users can perform during their downtime to keep themselves at peak performance. Most Force Regimens are designed to focus on one particular aspect of Force training. The benefits of a Force Regimen last for 24 hours, and only one Force Regimen's effects can be active in a given 24-hour period. For story purposes, you can perform as many Force Regimens as you like; you only benefit from the first one performed, however. If you fail to complete a Force Regimen, you cannot gain the benefits of that Force Regimen for 24 hours, though you can attempt another Force Regimen you know. You learn Force Regimens by taking the Force Regimen Mastery Feat. Once you learn a Force Regimen, you can use it any time you have enough spare time to do so. Most Force-users perform their Force Regimens in the morning each day, though there is no rule to say when a Force Regimen must be performed. Holocron Lesson: The Twin Suns An ancient form of Lightsaber sparring, known as the Twin Suns, was popular among Jedi during the days of The Great Sith War and The Jedi Civil War. The sparring technique could only be performed by two combatants, who stood at opposite ends of a large, open area. The two Jedi would run at each other, then use The Force to make a great leap high into the air, careening toward one another as though in flight. Only after the Jedi's feet had left the ground were they allowed to ignite their Lightsaber, and when the two crossed beside one another in mid-air the goal was to strike at the other Jedi and make (Harmless) contact with a piece of the other Jedi's clothing. Each Jedi must then deactivate their Lightsaber before their feet touch the ground on the far side of the sparring arena. This sparring method, dubbed Twin Suns because the combatants rose and landed like suns crossing in the sky, required a mastery of Lightsaber combat, the ability to use The Force to assist a great leap, and the ability to ignite the Lightsaber, strike, and then deactivate it all within the span of just a few seconds. Message from the Faculty: Vo'ren Faalo Vo'ren Faalo was a Jedi battlemaster during the days of The Old Republic. Considered one of the greatest Lightsaber instructors of all time, Vo'ren Faalo is credited with having such an intimate knowledge of Lightsaber combat that he could teach anyone to master any known Lightsaber Form. Master Faalo taught his students that mastery of the Lightsaber has little, if anything, to do with physical strength or manual dexterity, but that a Jedi's Lightsaber was the focus for their own mental discipline and sensitivity to The Force. Master Faalo created five Force Regimens, known as cadences, that helped his students control their Lightsabers by mastering their own self-control. According to Vo'ren Faalo, Lightsaber mastery was dependent on the Control and Sense aspects of The Force, and only through the stickiest mental discipline and through the stillness of the mind could a Lightsaber be wielded with the necessary precision. Master Faalo's students often became unparalleled battlemasters and weapon masters in their own right, so few would argue with the effectiveness of this philosophy. Jedi Talents The following new Talents are intended for use with the Jedi Heroic Class. * New Talents: Jedi Consular Talent Tree ** Adversary Lore ** Know Weakness * New Talents: Jedi Guardian Talent Tree ** Grenade Defense ** Hold the Line * New Talent: Jedi Sentinel Talent Tree ** Master of the Great Hunt * New Talent: Lightsaber Combat Talent Tree ** Shoto Focus Force Talents When a character who has the Force Sensitivity Feat would normally gain a Talent (Such as from advancing to an odd-numbered level in a Heroic Class), he or she can instead select a Force Talent from among those from a Force Talent Tree. If a character who has the Force Sensitivity Feat is a member of a Force Tradition, he or she can instead select a Force Talent from that tradition's individual Force Talent Tree. The Force Disciple, Jedi Master, and Sith Lord Prestige Classes all state that they can select Talents from any Force Talent Tree. A Force Talent Tree is any Talent Tree that isn't limited to a particular Heroic Class or Prestige Class and require the Force Sensitivity Feat to access its Talents. This means that the Talent Trees belonging to the various Force Traditions are considered Force Talent Trees, as they are non-class specific but require Force Sensitivity to access. * New Talents: Alter Talent Tree ** Illusion ** Illusion Bond ** Influence Savant ** [[Link|'Link']] ** [[Masquerade|'Masquerade']] ** Suppress Force * New Talents: Control Talent Tree ** Channel Energy ** Force Harmony * New Talents: Dark Side Talent Tree ** Dark Side Savant ** Transfer Essence * New Guardian Spirit Talent Tree * New Talents: Sense Talent Tree ** Instinctive Navigation ** Motion of the Future Holocron Lesson: The Great Hunt An event that took place after The Great Sith War, The Great Hunt was a crusade begun by Jedi Shadows but eventually undertaken by many in The Jedi Order to wipe out Dark Side Beasts. With Sith alchemists creating all manner of vile creatures, including Chrysalis Beasts and Sith Abominations, the galaxy had become filled with creatures that spread the taint of The Dark Side of The Force wherever they went. Chief among the creatures sought out by participants in The Great Hunt were the Terentateks, which were not only dangerous but also posed an incredible threat to The Jedi. Several Jedi of the age made it their primary goal to seek out Terentateks and other Dark Side creatures, with the sole purpose of exterminating them. Unfortunately, the effort proved futile, and many of these creatures still exist for centuries and even millennia afterword. Optional Rule: Daily Force Points Some Gamemasters may wish to have Force Points refresh more often than once per level, creating a game that allows for more incredible stunts. This optional rule allows you to use Force Points as a daily resource instead of a per-level resource, encouraging players to spend Force Points more freely. With this optional rule, characters no longer gain Force Points for leveling. Instead, each day each character has a number of Force Points to spend based on their Character Level: 1st- to 5th-level characters have 1 Force Point; 6th- to 10th-level characters have 2 Force Points; 11th- to 15th-level characters have 3 Force Points; characters of 16th level or higher have 4 Force Points. Unused Force Points do not carry over to the next day. When using this optional rule, the Force Boon Feat should give one additional Force Point per day instead of it's normal effect. Prestige Class Talents This section introduces several new Talents for the Prestige Classes presented in the Saga Edition Core Rulebook. Force Adept Talents The following Talents are for use with the Force Adept Prestige Class. * New Talents: Dark Side Devotee Talent Tree ** [[Dark Side Talisman|'Dark Side Talisman']] ** Greater Dark Side Talisman * New Beastwarden Talent Tree * New Mystic Talent Tree * New Telepath Talent Tree Jedi Knight Talents The following Talents are for use with the Jedi Knight Prestige Class. * New Talents: Duelist Talent Tree ** Lightsaber Form Savant ** Shoto Master * New Jedi Artisan Talent Tree * New Jedi Instructor Talent Tree * New Jedi Investigator Talent Tree * New Jedi Weapon Master Talent Tree Sith Apprentice Talents The following Talents are for use with the Sith Apprentice Prestige Class. * New Sith Alchemy Talent Tree Whispers of the Sith Spirit: Sith Abomination The Sith alchemists of the past were not just content to create powerful Weapons and suits of Armor- they also wanted living weapons. The ancient Sith who first discovered alchemical secrets learned to manipulate the genetic structure of living creatures, even sentient Species. The Sith Abomination is the result, the Massassi Abomination but one example. Feats Feats provide game mechanics for core character concepts. They allow characters from any Class to access significant special abilities, as long as certain prerequisites are met. Force Powers The following Force Powers are available to any character who has the Force Sensitivity Feat. These Force Powers represent the variety of powers available to Jedi and other Force Traditions, Light and Dark. Message from the Faculty: Move Object The rules for the Move Object Force Power allow a character to hurl objects at other targets, dealing damage to them. By the strict interpretation of the rules, the size of the object and the damage dealt by throwing the object are independent of one another; for example, you can throw a Medium object with a DC 25 check and still deal 6d6 points of damage. As an optional rule, Gamemasters can link object size to the damage dealt with the power, meaning that the object thrown deals damage equal to the damage listed on the line corresponding to that object's size; for example, Medium objects always deal 2d6 damage, Large objects always deal 4d6 damage, Huge objects always deal 6d6 damage, and so forth. However, Gamemasters should be prepared to make exceptions in situations where players show creativity or when the situation seems to warrant higher damage for a smaller object, such as using the power to drive a Large metal spike through the cockpit of an AT-ST. Message from the Faculty: Line of Sight Many Force Powers require that the target be both within line of sight and within a certain range. The Sense Surroundings application of the Use the Force Skill can be used to perceive targets despite the presence of Cover such as walls and doors or Concealment such as fog and smoke. By the strictest interpretation of the rules, using Sense Surroundings to ignore penalties to Perception checks does not grant line of sight; it merely allows one to perceive the target (Just as hearing someone coming around the corner doesn't grant line of sight.) However, in some situations a Gamemaster may wish to allow a character to use Sense Surroundings to gain line of sight. If a character has the Improved Sense Surroundings Force Technique, the Gamemaster can allow a character that has perceived a target to also have line of sight to that target, provided that the character used the Sense Surroundings application of the Use the Force Skill earlier in the character's turn. Holocron Lesson: The Force through the Ages Not every Force Power or Force Talent is well known in all eras. Knowledge is gained and lost over time, and techniques that are common during The Great Sith War are all but forgotten by the time of The Clone Wars. Though all Force Powers and Force Talents in the ''Core Rulebook are assumed to be applicable in all eras, some of the powers found in the various Reference Books may be restricted by era.'' Gamemasters should feel free to rule that some Force-related abilities just cannot be found in some eras. In particular, Force Powers are likely to be extremely restricted during The Dark Times and The Rebellion Era, as they represent a time when Emperor Palpatine tightly controls knowledge of The Force and The Jedi are all but extinct. In eras where The Jedi are commonplace, a wider variety of techniques may be available for use, but even then much knowledge has been lost, or is yet to be discovered. Lightsaber Forms Powers The following Force Powers are part of a new group of abilities called Lightsaber Form Powers. These Form Powers are tagged with the [Lightsaber Form] descriptor. Each Form Power represents a single technique associated with one of the Jedi Lightsaber combat forms. Each Form Power uses some Force manipulation, and most also involve a Lightsaber attack; additionally, each power has a special added benefit that you gain as a result of having the appropriate Lightsaber Form Talent for that Form Power. You must be wielding an activated Lightsaber to use any Form Power with the [Lightsaber Form] descriptor. You cannot ''Rebuke'' a Lightsaber Form Power, with two exceptions: ''Draw Closer'' and ''Pushing Slash''. Lightsaber Form Powers are intended to help Jedi (And Sith) characters make use of special attacks associated with the various Lightsaber Forms well before they are able to access the Lightsaber Forms Talent Tree. They are also a good way for a character to say that he or she is a practitioner of a certain form without necessarily having spent a precious Talent on that form. Many famous Jedi are regarded as students of multiple forms, and with these Form Powers, your heroes can dabble in several different forms, even if they are only considered masters of a small few. Message from the Faculty: Saber Locks Many times two Lightsaber combatants will strike at one another, locking their Lightsabers together in a test of strength and skill as their blades crackle with contact. As an optional rule, whenever a Jedi with the Block Talent rolls their Use the Force check to negate the attack and the skill check result is exactly equal to the incoming attack roll, the attack is negated and a Saber Lock occurs. Both characters lock their Lightsabers together, and both the original attacker and the blocking Jedi make an opposed Initiative check. The character with the higher result may make an immediate Unarmed attack against the other character as a Free Action, at which point the Saber Lock ends. Force Techniques Force Techniques represent a deeper understanding of The Force and, like martial skills, usually come with years of practice. A few gifted or devoted Force-users learn to master them more quickly. In general, Force Techniques are only available to characters with levels in certain Force-using Prestige Classes (Such as Force Adept, Jedi Knight, and Sith Apprentice). Whenever you gain access to a new Force Technique, select it from the following list, or those listed in Force Techniques. Once selected, a Force Technique cannot be changed. * Cure Disease * Extended Blind * Extended Force Disarm * Extended Force Grip * Extended Force Thrust * Extended Move Object * Improved Convection * Improved Crucitorn * Improved Cryokinesis * Improved Fold Space * Improved Force Light * Improved Force Storm * Improved Plant Surge * Improved Thought Bomb Force Secrets Skilled Force-users can learn to manipulate their Force Powers in intriguing ways. Force Secrets represent a sublime connection of The Force and are usually available only to powerful Force-users such as Force Disciples, Jedi Masters, and Sith Lords. Activating a Force Secret cost either a Force Point or a Destiny Point (As noted in its description), and the normal limits on spending Force Points and Destiny Points during a round apply. Whenever you learn a new Force Secret, select it from the following list, or those listed in Force Secrets. Once selected, a Force Secret cannot be changed. * Holocron Loremaster * Mentor